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Monday, August 19, 2013

Filipino cuisine... are you familiar with it? It seems like this cuisine isn't on the mainstream radar as of yet, but it should be! Over the weekend I taught a Filipino cooking class and all this week I'll be featuring the recipes of the dishes we prepared. As a special treat, my parents came to share some of their secrets from the years they catered and they had a blast being in the spotlight. We had a full menu of popular Filipino dishes so stay tuned every day this week for what we feasted on along with the recipes and secrets! We had this Mango & Tomato Salad as a side dish to offer some freshness to our meal. Sweet mangoes, ripe tomatoes, creamy avocado, and onions are tossed together with Filipino shrimp paste for an authentic and colorful salad...

Summer is the best time of year to enjoy this salad because everything called for in the recipe is in season and readily available. In Philippines, this salad is a staple in our cuisine to offer some color and freshness. Shrimp paste, or alamang, is a Filipino condiment that is very salted and has a pungent smell. It adds a bit of saltiness to round out the flavors and acompany the meal. If you cannot find Filipino shrimp paste or alamang, you can substitute it with the more readily available fish sauce.